Sew: Removable Retro Décolleté Collar & Halter Strap Tutorial {Turn A Sweetheart Top Into 50’s Style Top And Back Again}

When I get an invite to special occasion, I start thinking about what I’m going to wear. And that usually means sewing up a new outfit. I’m not the only one, right? But sometimes time is just not on your side. This was born from a serious lack of time. After being invited to a special wedding, I decided on wearing the outfit I wore on day 23 of Me Made May 2015. It had just the right vibe for the ‘come as yourself’ dress code. I ordered or shopped for all the components to make a matching hat and some shoe clips (the treasure hunt component of the celebration demands comfort footwear). And I had just enough time to make them (tutorial for those coming soon1).

Then outfit disaster struck! With only a couple of days to weather forecast changed from a chilly 18C to a rather warm 33C! There was absolutely no way I could wear what I’d planned. A full circle skirt and crinoline is warmish to wear but with a woolly cardigan, no way. I had no other tops that worked with that skirt. I looked through my MMM photos, I pinterested, I looked at some of my fave vintage/retro instagrammers. I considered wearing one of my sweetheart tanks (yes, I know you are dying for a tutorial, I’ve had requests. It’s coming, I promise) but none of the colours worked. I considered making a new one. Somehow none of my solutions were quite right. Then, as I drove to the supermarket, the light bulb went off!

I thought, ‘I have more of the skirt fabric. I could add a halter strap and a bust detail to my black sweetheart tank! My shoes, hat and bag have black too!’. This idea fixed a lot of problems. It would add detail and interest, it would look like the skirt and top belonged together and I’d be cool. Plus The straps on my sweetheart tanks are widely spaced and sit close to my shoulder because that’s where my (much needed) bra straps sit. Without a cardi or shrug to cover my arms, I feel like the wide open chest space all adds up to too much skin. Somehow, the halter strap is just enough to make me happy.

I wanted these additions to be removable because that black tank is a wardrobe workhouse. I thought about it long enough and figured out a solution. I was definitely thinking safety pins but I wasn’t sure how it all would go. The only way to find out was to go for it…….

I started by making some three inch bias strips from my fabric. I didn’t want any unnecessary seams in my finished product so the regular continuous bias tape wouldn’t do. A quick pinterest turned up this awesome method that gives you the longest possible bias strips from the size fabric you have. Then I had lots of long bias strips. My bias strips already had neat 90 degree angles. So I matched two, right sides together and stitched it down. I trimmed the seam and pressed the seam allowances open. That’s my centre front done.

I put on my intended bra and sweetheart tank to get pining. A makeup mirror on the coffee table allowed me to see what I was doing without twisting about too much. I was hoping the bias strips would just make it round the curve but there was ugly bunching around my upper bust, near the straps.

I pinned a dart above each breast, so everything sat neatly. My boobs, like many women, are quite different in size. So each boob got its own dart that fitted it correctly. I stitched those down and pressed them towards centre front. I also cut my bias strips so they would be only 3-4 inches too long on the sides (where they will meet my side seams, under the arm). I knew I’d refine that last.

Now for the fiddly bit, making the collar lining. I took another two strips and sew them at centre front. I laid the darted pieces (let’s call them the outside side of the collar pieces) down right side up. I laid the right side of the new strips (let’s call them the inside side of the collar) right side down on top. So the collar inside and outside are right sides together. I pinned the centre front seams together carefully, I wanted this to line up perfectly. I pinned outward on both sides and then used pins to replicate the darts. This bit is wild fiddly! Once I was happy I marked them with a sewing marker, I took out the pins holding the inside collar pieces to the outside collar pieces and sewed the darts into the inside collar. I pressed the darts away from centre front.

Then I put the outside and inside collar pieces together, right sides together and pinned along both long edges. I stitched along both edges with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I trimmed the seams, clipped where I knew the fabric would curve (it’s a straight line now but it has to curve on my body) and clipped around the pointy points and down into the other, valley like points. I turned it out like a normal tube and gave it good press.

The next step was to finish the short edges. I roped in Mummy Ask to help me get everything pinned to the sweetheart tank. I used some green safety pins to attach the collar to the tank, I pinned through both layers of the tank but only the inside layer of the collar. I had mum make a mark on the collar, where the side seams were. I trimmed the collar down, leaving an extra 1/4″ from the mark. I pushed the ends in an topstitched closed.

For the halter straps, I folded two of my bias strips in half, right sides together and sewed them into a tube with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I turned the tube right sides out (I highly recommend a tube turner) and pressed it down with the seam on one side. I actually sewed one end closed, at an angle but left a tiny space for the tube turner to do its thing. So when my tube was right sides out, it only had one open end.

I tied the closed ends into a knot, so the dangly bit were the length I desired. I yet again sought Mummy Asks assistance to hold the knot at my neck while I found the perfect length to pin the straps at. Once it was marked, I turned the ends in, topstitched.

I think this is such an easy, effective way to turn an everyday top into something special. And it’s a great way to make things match. I’ll definitely be making more of these in the future!